


Superhero Wives Stick Together

by rach320



Series: Journalist Wives and their Superhero Husbands [2]
Category: DCU, Smallville, Smallville Season 11 (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, based on the flash midseason premiere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 13:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13436103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rach320/pseuds/rach320
Summary: In the military, there are spousal support groups.For the Justice League, there was Lois Lane.When Barry gets wrongfully imprisoned, Iris learns just how much of a support Lois would be.





	Superhero Wives Stick Together

Lois arrived on the Thursday, two days after Barry had been sentenced as guilty. Iris was shocked to say the bare minimum, to find the reporter on the doorstep of her childhood home where she had been staying since her apartment became a staged crime scene.

 

She was engulfed in a hug, the first hug from someone besides family and those at STAR labs, and Iris was surprised at how easily the tears fell, at how good it felt to let herself crumble, even if just for a moment.

 

“I came as soon as I heard.” Lois spoke softly. “I’ll find a hotel, I swear, but I managed to swing covering this case with Perry for the paper and the rest of my assignments being submitted electronically. I’m here as long as you need me. Clark’ll come on weekends to help and he promises to patrol here more. All you need to do is call him and Superman will be here in a moment to help with a meta.”

 

Iris pulled back, looking into the concerned eyes of the women before her. She and Lois have become friends since they met that fateful league meeting ago, as she watched Lois and Clark finally get married in a courthouse, but Iris never expected Lois to turn up at her doorstep unannounced.

 

But then again, it really shouldn’t surprise Iris, because if the reverse had happened, Iris would have offered the same thing, turned up at Lois’ Metropolis apartment and used their combined journalistic skills to prove her husband innocent. After all, this wasn’t the first time a hero was framed, though with Clark, it had been Superman who had been framed, who had had to stand trial after Lex framed him for the deaths at a Senegalese village. This time, it was Barry, not the Flash, who had been falsely accused. And unlike the lengthy time of a senate trial, the Central City justice department worked too fast for Iris to gather the material in time to save him from going to jail.

 

Iris shook her head. “You’re not finding a hotel. You can stay in my old room.”

 

After a quick study of Iris’ face, Lois nodded. Picking up her suitcase, Lois walked inside the house at Iris’ urging. “Okay then. Show me what you have so far.”

 

It took Iris two hours to catch Lois up on the case. The league all knew bits and pieces, of course, but a lot had unravelled in a short amount of time. Lois delved in with the passion that Iris knew the older woman applied to everything. There was a reason she had won two pulitzers and three kerths over the span of ten year career, more than most journalists could ask for in a lifetime. Watching her work, it made Iris promise to make her career a priority again after all this was over, after Barry had been proven innocent.

 

Lois huffed as she flipped through the court records, frown increasing as her eyebrows furrowed. “The DeVoes made sure that all the evidence lined up perfectly.”

 

Iris nodded in agreement. “Cecile tried hard to poke hole in it, but when the forensic evidence is that strong, there’s not much you can do. The jury is going to believe in the forensics. It’s what they’ve been raised to believe is bulletproof.”

 

“It’s too clean.” Lois announced, tossing the papers back onto the overflowing coffee table. “You know how I convinced Perry to let me take this story? To let his best reporter go out of town for what could potentially be months?”

 

Iris shook her head. In truth, she had been wondering, but hadn’t wanted to ask. She was just thankful for the help and for Lois’ far-reaching connections. Iris would do anything for her husband, but it helped to have another head, a head that wasn’t fraught with worry for her husband like Iris’ was, a clear mind, an outside perspective who hadn’t been drowning in the trickery of the DeVoes for months. “What?”

 

“Barry’s a CSI. He’s seen hundreds of crime scenes. He knows how criminals get caught and what gets them off. Do you really think that a CSI, especially one as good as Barry, would leave this neat of an evidence trail? That he would know to clean the knife with bleach, to use gloves, to alter the angle of the attack so that it couldn’t be pinned on someone his height and weight?”

 

Iris felt a weight lifting, Lois putting a name to the one thing that had been niggling at the back of her mind. It was too late for it to keep him out of jail, but Lois had found a loose string in the web that the DeVoes had weaved. Now all they had to do was tug.

 

“You’re right!” Iris leapt up from the couch and grabbed her purse. “Barry’s good at his job. Even if, let’s say what Marlize was saying about DeVoe going over there was true, Barry would have cleaned the knife before people arrived. He would have left the apartment. He would have set the attack up so that he couldn’t be pinned. So that his DNA wasn’t found on the body. Hell, he likely would have moved the body and searched for any traces of the apartment on it.”

 

Lois stood up next to her, glad that she was able to breathe life back into her friend. “So, this is your city. What do we do next?”

 

***

 

The first day Iris brought Lois into work, her boss did a double take. Lois Lane was currently the hottest name in journalism—especially after writing the article about the Senegalese massacre that got President Luthor impeached—and she was in his newsroom.

 

After about two weeks of Lois coming in nearly every day and pulling a chair up to Iris’ desk, working alongside the younger reporter, he started getting curious. How did Iris and Lois know each other? He’d watch Lois type furiously at her computer throughout the morning, not even breaking for lunch. Then, once her distance assignments were done and sent back to the Planet, it was almost like a switch would flip. Lois would drag out a seemingly endless amount of files, highlighter and pen in hand as she worked through them methodically. Watching her work, Scott wondered how much of a mess her office at the Planet was. Iris would help occasionally, working with a vigor that Scott hadn’t seen from the promising young reporter in months. So, he was thankful for Lois, for lighting a fire under his report’s ass.

 

And then they took over a conference room.

 

Scott had walked by it one day when Iris and Lois were taking a rare break for lunch. Iris was ahead of all of her deadlines and sensing that she and Lois were working on a joint project, Scott let the unapproved side project go. Whatever it was, Lois Lane considered it a worthy venture.

 

But as the girl’s ate out of a pizza box, demolishing the large pizza, he finally got a look at what they were working on. In the center of the white board was Clifford DeVoe. Surrounding him was his wife, the young man the wife was in a relationship with, and all the strange things that have been happening in Central City recently. It was an intricate web, connected with lines and arrows that he was too far away from to make much sense of.

 

So they were working on proving that Barry was innocent. While it didn’t surprise Scott that Iris was throwing her energy into this, he wondered why Lois was. Clearly, she believed what Barry claimed: That the CSI was innocent. The veteran reporter did have a habit of proving accusations and jail sentences wrong, and for the sake of his own reporter, he hoped that Lois could do it again.

 

Besides, the joint headline would make a great front page.

 

***

 

Superman had become a regular sighting in Central City. And while Iris wished that it wasn’t needed, that Barry was still able to do his job, the appearances of the flying savior kept people from asking too hard where the Flash was. He’d always visit Lois after one of these saves if he could on top of his weekend visits.

 

Iris caught the tail end of one. She liked Clark, thought him and good and kind man as well as a loyal friend to Barry. But when he wasn’t there to specifically help with the case, it was hard to be around him. Because he reminded her so much of Barry and seeing them so in love with each other hurt. So if he was just dropping by for a visit, Iris would leave the house, whether it was to run or to go to work, or in this case, visit Barry. Each time she visited her heart broke a little bit more. His face was pale, eyes drawn, and he was so, so skinny. He wasn’t getting enough food to sustain him in there, not with his accelerated metabolism. The light was slowly leaving his eyes, drained by exhaustion and hunger, and it made Iris more determined to get him out soon. They had to.

 

They were standing in the kitchen, Clark’s forehead leaning against Lois’. She had taken her heels off for the day so he had to bend his knees, but the superhero didn’t seem to mind. He whispered gentle, calming words in his wife’s ear while the women in question occasionally rolled her eyes. However, the words seemed to work as the irritation that had originally been vexing Lois’ face when Iris walked in melted away. It was then that Clark’s hand moved to Lois’ stomach, the gesture telling, and Iris had to stifle a gasp.

 

However, Clark did have superhearing, so Iris made her best attempt at looking like she had just entered the house.

 

“Iris!” Clark greeted with an easy smile. “I took care of another bus meta for you guys and left him at STAR Labs. I also was able to find some things on the DeVoes before they came to the States. Hopefully, it’ll be helpful for you.”

 

“Thank you so much, Clark. Honestly, thank you both.”

 

Clark moved to respond but then his head tilted, a sign that Iris had come to learn meant he was hearing something. “I’ve got to go. Earthquake in Japan. You two stay safe.”

 

A quick peck on the lips to his wife and Clark was out the door in a blur. Iris chuckled as she smoothed down her hair, seeing Lois do the same. She’d have to get Clark and Barry to work together one day on figuring out how to keep their speed from messing up their wives' hair. Iris smiled dimmed however as she saw Lois looking at her with narrowed eyes. 

 

“What?” Iris asked.

 

Lois sighed, letting her head drop for a second before she spoke. “You saw that, didn’t you?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Cut the crap, Iris, I would have noticed the same thing if the situation had been reversed.” Lois took in a deep breath before she spoke again, looking Iris in the eyes. “Yes, I’m pregnant. Almost twelve weeks. But we’re not telling anyone. Frankly, the fact that this even happened is a miracle in and of itself.”

 

Iris frowned. “You’re not worried…”

 

“I’ve had false alarms before. Missed periods where my period was just a little bit too heavy when it came. We’re being careful.”

 

Iris nodded somberly, understanding the meaning behind Lois’ words. It was likely that Lois had been pregnant before, but had likely lost the baby before it even had a chance to really start to grow. As human as Clark looked, he wasn’t human. That meant that any pregnancy would be fraught with worry and fear.

 

“But I’m strong.” Lois added. “My doctor says that everything’s going great, and I’m being monitored at the Fortress. Clark takes me up there on weekends. So far, I’m healthy and the baby’s healthy. We’re just waiting a little bit longer.”

 

“Well, then let me be the first to tell you congratulations.” Iris beamed, knowing that Lois didn’t want another person worrying about her. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

 

“Thank you.” Lois breathed. “Now come on. I think it’s about time we paid a visit to the DeVoes.”

 

***

 

Lois knocked on the door, her favorite power heels on. Iris stood at her side, fidgeting slightly but otherwise keeping her emotions under wraps. Marlize opened it, her face skillfully turning into an emotionless mask.

 

“Mrs. West-Allen, Mrs. Lane-Kent.” Marlize greeted. “What a surprise.”

 

“Marlize, I think we went beyond formalities when you framed my husband and got him put in jail.”

 

Marlize nodded as Lois gave Iris a high-five behind her back. “Very well then. Come in, both of you.”

 

Lois peered around the house, wishing for not the first time that she had Clark’s x-ray vision. It would definitely be useful right now.

 

“Please, to what do I owe this visit, Iris, Lois?”

 

“I just thought we should give you the common curtesy of letting you know that we’re on to you.” Iris spoke.

 

“You’re husband was onto us for months, Iris, but even a CSI wasn’t able to prove anything.” DeVoe came into the room. Like his wife, his hid his emotions well, but Lois caught a microexpression, a sliver of worry.

 

“But the probability of me coming into the equation was low, wasn’t it?” Lois asked. “After all, I live in Metropolis. I haven’t known Iris that long. I have my own articles to work on.” She took several steps forward, stopping when she was nose to nose with DeVoe. “But you underestimated me, DeVoe. If there is one thing I’m good at, it’s taking the slightest chance, the smallest inclination, and running with it. If I had thought there was even the slightest chance of being able to help my friends, to prove Barry’s innocence, to help the truth be told, I would have been on the first plane out of here. But, like most men, you underestimated me. Because no matter how smart you are and how fast your brain works, you underestimate women. You rely on them and respect them, I’m sure. Respect what they can do for you. But you underestimate them. And that will be your downfall.”

 

Lois smiled sweetly as she stepped back to Iris. “I’ll see you both in court. We have a story to write.”

 

***  
  


Iris leaned back in her chair at the office, glee lighting her features. They got him. They finally got him. Clark’s last source had been able to provide him with pseudonyms the DeVoes had used throughout Europe. With that information, Iris and Lois were able to come through the thank you cards from the wedding gifts and discover that it was the DeVoes through a pseudonym who bought the wedding knives and then sent only one to Barry and Iris, using the other to frame Barry for murder.

 

The story was meticulous, including details about the DeVoes. While they weren’t able to prove the more far-fetched aspects of the story, including why exactly the DeVoes had it out for Barry, they were able to prove that the DeVoes had planted the knife, that the story about meeting Dominic was false, that Dominic’s father was still alive, and, with the help of Cisco, found the lost footage of the apartment to put Marlize at the scene depositing Clifford’s already dead corpse.

 

They had already turned the evidence over to Cecile, who had in turn handed it to the judge. Barry’s retrial was to take place in the morning, but Cecile told them that it was looking good. For the first time in months, Iris had hope.

 

“I don’t know how I can thank you for this.” Iris spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

 

Lois shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me for anything. Your my friend, Iris, and so is Barry. You never had to do this alone. Besides,” she smirked, eyes glittering, “it makes one hell of a story.”

 

“All we need is motive.”

 

“I took care of that. Barry happened to have on his personal computer a file about some of DeVoes less than honorable public moments that he had managed to hush up, including sleeping with a student and handing in his resignation moments before being taken to the ethics board where he would have sure been fired. Barry was confronting the professor about that and DeVoe knew that if the truth came out, his reputation would be in ruins and he’d be fired, leaving his wife without his pension to take care of her when he passed. His health was declining. An honorable motivation to be sure, but still motive.”

 

Iris’ brow furrowed. “How—“

 

“The files were already on Barry’s computer. I just embellished them using Clark’s source and put the pieces together.”

 

“But if the judge asks for motive—“

 

“Iris,” Lois spoke soothingly. “It won’t be the first time I’ve had to lie on the stand. It’s okay.”

 

A stray tear slipped down Iris’ cheek. Of course. Lois had been called to testify during Superman’s trial and had lied about her relationship with Superman. “I really can’t thank you enough. You know, you’re going to make a great mom.”

 

“Thanks.” Lois beamed, hand falling gently to her stomach. “Now come on, tomorrow’s a big day. Let’s get some sleep.”

 

***

 

The judge’s face was pensive as he reviewed the information before him. Marlize was present in the courtroom, sitting next to her defense attorney while Barry was on the other side next to Celeste, looking far too thin. Iris sat besides Lois with the rest of her family and friends, holding onto the older woman’s hands tightly. This has to work. The evidence they found was solid and Lois knew how to weave a story. Not only that, but they had published the information they had this morning before the court came together, making sure that the public knew what was going on.

 

The odds were in their favor for the first time in months.

 

Finally, the judge spoke.

 

“What has been brought to me today was horrendous. Citizens manipulating the law, hiding the past, all for financial gain. The amount of trickery and deception astounds and disgusts me. That being said, I have the great pleasure of reading the jury’s verdict. Barry Allen, you sentence has been overturned. You are innocent and will be compensated heavily for your wrongful imprisonment.”

 

Iris suppressed a squeal as Lois wrapped her arms tightly around the younger woman. It had worked.

 

The judge then turned to Marlize. “Marlize DeVoe, I find you guilty of not only perjury, but for conspiring with your late husband to frame Barry Allen for his death. You will be remanded to prison to await your sentencing.”

 

And the pound of his gavel, their side of the courtroom erupted into cheers. Iris surged forward, pulling Barry into her arms from across the divider. They still had a lot to do, but Marlize was now in prison and Barry was out. Plus, without his wife, DeVoe had no-one to help him in his schemes.

 

“Lois, thank you.” Barry found Lois’ hand in the midst of the excitement. “Iris told me how much you helped. Thank you so much. I can’t ever repay you.”

 

“It’s like I told your wife, Allen. You don’t have to.” Lois smiled. “But, I will thank you for the byline.”

 

Iris chuckled, briefly leaving Barry’s arms to hug her friend. Standing on her tiptoes, Iris whispered in Lois’ ear. “Let me know when the baby shower is.”

 

Lois nodded. “Duh.” She winked at the couple. “I’ll leave you two alone. But, you should visit Metropolis sometime, Iris. We work well together and I have a stale case I think you might like to sink your teeth into. Clark’s going out of town in two months to cover an election in Russia and doesn’t want me to be alone. Feel like some journalism and a sleepover?”

 

Iris grinned. “I look forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think of Lois as the mama bear of the entire league, spouses and family included.
> 
> Anywho, let me know what you think!


End file.
